Really disappointing that the little Titan masters have no paint on their robot mode faces. They look so cheap.

 

Takara is painting them.

 

Yeah I know, but... Wish Hasbro wasn't being so damn cheap. I mean they pale compared to their original 85/86 versions. It's embarrassing.

 

I'm not trying to be a Hasbro apologist here, but here's some food for thought before we call them cheap. (They've proven, with CW, that they're not entirely cheap. We've received a ton of figures and combiners we never imagined we'd get to see.)

Hasbro's version of Scourge: $16.99
Takara's version of Scourge: $23.69

People already balk at the current Hasbro pricing and cry foul and hate how hollow and "cheap" everything is. If Hasbro charged the same price as Takara and coated everything in paint, but it didn't sell, people would bitch about the price and we'd back to the same spot we're in now.

"Why's it so expensive? It's hollow! I'm not paying that for it! Forget it!"

They can't win either way. You guys have a legitimate complaint when they charge ridiculous amounts for their Masterpieces, when Takara's MSRP is like $40.00 or so for a carbot (roughly) and it's $60.00 when it comes here.

You don't have one here. You might not like it, but you guys are holding Hasbro to a higher standard they can't meet because we won't help them.

Another good example... Hardhead.
He'll be $16.99 when he comes here. Takara's is currently $37.xx! Yes, he comes with a Titan Master with the little tank (a repaint of Nightbeat.) but we can pick those up for like $10.00...

That's still $10.00 cheaper than Takara's. Paint is the only thing pushing the price beyond the inclusion of the Titan Master vehicle.

Plus, as it's been said, Hasbro has to aim their stuff at kids, all kids, of all economic backgrounds. Takara caters to adults with more money than brains and they milk us for all we're worth.

We should at least look at the whole picture before we pass judgment and we should at least be willing to see both sides and all the facts and numbers before we label something or someone. It's just become a knee jerk reaction for so long that people automatically scream "Hasblow!"

 

Which is why they get my money instead of Hasbro.

 

Since the heads are what plugs into the body, I see it as a case of wanting to avoid scraped paint.

 

Fair point.

 

You do realize these Titanmasters quite a bit smaller than the G1 headmasters, right ?

Really, I think a lot of TR complaints we're seeing now, are based off press photo's ; probably minor or non-issues with in hand product.

 

Man I just wish they would finally do a legends Kickback how long has it been since we got Bombshell and the year before that Skrapnell what the hell is the holdup.

 

Always pumped to see more PMOP closeup shots...

But then Hi-Q/Ginrai/Apex... Whaaa? Like, I get budget limits and tiny details being a pain to paint engineer, but holy crap, even his legs aren't painted.

I have the Thrilling 30 Voyager Brainstorm and they still managed some paint on that little Headmaster. I would like to hope PMOP's pictured Headmaster is a prototype but I'm probably reaching.

I decided to go for Takara's Blurr over Hasbro's due to better paint IMO, and I think I may end up doing the same with PMOP now, even *if* the packaging will likely say "Super Ginrai". *curses the heavens for trivial technicalities*

 

I will point to the 85/86 Headmasters to deflate this argument completely.

 

Of course I do, what is your point? Thirty years later I expect to move forward, not backwards with Headmasters design.

 

Powermaster OP arms look hollow like CW Magnus. Was hoping that wouldn't be so prominent in Titans.

 

I just noticed something neat about Brawn. They gave him a toy accurate head on his little robot, but then an animation model accurate face for his Headmaster mode.

 

Given that he's basically an online exclusive, seems like they should have gone against type and packaged Groove in Bike mode: he looks so goofy with his doing the splits w/ half the alt mode over his head in the package shots  

 

Hmm... I don't care about the Headmasters too much, aside from Mindwipe, but I might get Brainstorm and turn him into Twinspin.

 

The ones with like a quarter the articulation?

 

They're trying to avoid the same problems the "advanced" Arcana had on Gen. Brainstorm - the articulated ball joint neck/Arcana's head being made of rubber was that mold's greatest flaw.

Plus, miniaturization for more reasonable sized heads at mass production isn't a "step back" - like, we're talking mass produced WST size toys. Like, if nothing else, the new headmasters win over the old ones purely by not being 100% blocks in head mode AND they have neck swivels. Don't think the G1 HM's had that function on account of the three-prong tech spec bar trigger plugs.

You do know PMOP is literally a retooled CW Magnus, right?

He's online? Shit, why am I only learning of this now?

 

Given that, one they got scratched and two they had more than just head holding them to the body and they didn't have means to allow the head to move, I think not.

 

I think of all the scratches on my G1 headmasters and powermasters.

Same physics apply to plastic now as they did then. Only the formula has changed a lot.

I will definitely say I'm excited. I do wish that structurally a lot of these figures had solid arms and legs. We've sacrificed heft and solidity for articulation. Or the budget was just blown back in 2008-2012 with CHUG. It's a compromise, and ultimately I expect Maz to do an article on it.